LORRIES heading for Felixstowe port are to be banned from overtaking on two stretches of the A14, it was announced today.Community leaders in Suffolk will be watching the trial project carefully to see whether it could be also brought in closer to the container terminal.
LORRIES heading for Felixstowe port are to be banned from overtaking on two stretches of the A14, it was announced today.
Community leaders in Suffolk will be watching the trial project carefully to see whether it could be also brought in closer to the container terminal.
Councillors in Felixstowe have already called for a ban on trucks overtaking on the dual carriageway on the peninsula, voicing concern over the hold-up caused by how long it takes for one lorry to get passed another.
With one million more lorries set to be using the port every year by 2020, the chaos would increase.
The experimental daytime ban on heavy vehicles overtaking comes into force on two sections of the A14 in Northamptonshire on April 2.
The areas affected will be two miles of the eastbound section from the M1 and 1.5 miles west from Kelmarsh to Junction 1.
The Highways Agency said the aim was to reduce congestion and cut the risk of accidents caused by slow-moving traffic on the long uphill sections of the A14, which are only two lanes wide.
It is hoped that, by keeping heavy vehicles in the inside lane it will leave the outside lane for faster, lighter traffic.
Highways Agency spokesman Bob Gale said: “We are committed to tackling congestion and making journeys on our roads more reliable. This stretch of the A14 gets congested with lorries going slowly up the hill, causing car drivers to get frustrated.
”Heavy vehicles slow down on the uphill slope and when they try to overtake each other, it can block the A14 and slow down the traffic for several miles.
”Drivers of vehicles caught up in the resulting queues become frustrated and that leads to an increased risk of accidents and further traffic delays.”
The overtaking ban will run daily from 6am to 8pm.
Should lorries be banned from overtaking on the A14 through Suffolk? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk
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